No it's not compulsory, but the cosmetics and hair care products that you normally use can affect your baby. For example, would you believe that in your normal beauty and hair regimes you could be applying more than 200 different chemicals to your body?
So 'going organic' may make a great deal of sense when you consider that anything you put on your skin will be absorbed into your body, and what is in your body can also pass into your growing baby.
There is no evidence that using organic beauty products can do something for your skin that regular products can't. Although if you can avoid using the petroleum derivatives and waxes along with the synthetic fillers found in conventional skin care then it may prevent the possibility of some of these chemical nasties finding their way to your baby's skin and causing any skin sensitivities.
To claim a product is organic, it must be made with at least 95% organically grown produce, while to claim that it has been made with organic ingredients, it must contain over 70% organically grown produce. But where does organic end and natural ingredients start?
For The Soil Association, organic ingredients are grown without the use of pesticides and according to their strict guidelines, while a natural ingredient is one from a natural source and is either untreated or treated and processed with other natural ingredients.
Clear so far? Unfortunately, sometimes natural ingredients are treated with synthetic substances to create the final ingredient - for example foaming agents used in shampoo (cocamidopropyl betaine is a common one) and as a result, The Soil Association allows certain semi-synthetic ingredients to be used in organic beauty products. You will also need to be very clear on the terminology that is used, 'organic' refers to the method of farming, but 'organic skincare' doesn't mean that no harmful chemicals have been added to the product during the production process.
Some organic products use safe, paraben free, semi-synthetic preservative systems, commonly phenoxyethanol, which is a Soil Association approved for use in organic beauty products, or benzyl alcohol, approved by Ecocert, and often used by French producers of organic and natural products.
If you are not sure what the ingredients listing means then ask the question. Any reputable retailer or manufacturer will be happy to answer your questions clearly and directly. So the maxim is, "If in doubt, find out"
Author Resource:-
Andrew Smith is a Director of MumsTheWord, a leading supplier of Natural & Organic Baby Care Products and pregnancy safe products http://www.mumstheword.com
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